Why The Supreme Court Failed Us

In the latest episode of the national soap opera, “Donny and Dan Just Wanna Get Hitched,” Oklahoma’s ban on gay marriage was knocked down as unconstitutional by its high court but no marriages will be performed until the appeals process is completed in Utah where same sex marriage was approved, then put on hold by the Governor.

It seems inevitable, given the Supreme Court’s landmark decision last June that banning same sex marriage is unconstitutional, that we will prevail in every state. But why should we have to go through test case after test case, state by state, until that happens?

When the Supreme Court declared segregation of schools back in 1954 as unconstitutional, a decision that opened the floodgates for all that’s followed in civil rights legislation for blacks, women, the disabled and us, it didn’t carry a fine print disclaimer that it was still up to individual states to decide if they wanted to comply. Or when the Court ruled bans on medically safe abortions as unconstitutional in 1973, it didn’t pass the final say in the matter down to each state.

So why the hell didn’t the Court wimp out on us? Why are we forced to deal with this snail pace progress of fighting bans state by state in order to achieve what under the U.S. Constitution is our right no matter where we live, be in New York City or Tuscaloosa , Alabama?

I hope the appeals process now going on in Utah will be bumped up to the Supreme Court and that the justices will finally have the balls to declare what they should have (and probably some of them wanted to) last June: that bans on gay marriage, like white water fountains and colored water fountains, or abortions in back alleys with clothes hangers are wrong.

Period.

Unlawful.

Period.

Illegal.

Period.

Discriminatory.

Period.

I really don’t believe there will be a stampede to the altar, nor do I believe all gays getting hitched are doing it for the right reasons (love, legal, financial) and that there will always be a faction, just like with str8’s, who wanna get married for the glitz factor.